Baker invites lawmakers to movies to learn more about opioid epidemic

BOSTON -- Gov. Charlie Baker, eager to the see the Legislature take up his opioid abuse prevention legislation quickly in the new year, has invited lawmakers next week to a screening of the new HBO documentary that focuses on eight young adults struggling with drug addiction on Cape Cod.

Baker partnered with the filmmaker behind "Heroin: Cape Cod, USA" to host the night next Tuesday at the Revere Hotel in downtown Boston.

The governor has already invited key lawmakers to the event, but plans to expand the invitation to the entire House and Senate later this week, and could open the screening to others depending on the response, according to an aide.

"We're always looking for ways to educate the public and others about how serious the problem of opioids are," Baker spokesman Tim Buckley said.

The documentary, directed by Steven Okazaki, will debut on HBO on Dec. 28 at 9 p.m. and a premiere has been scheduled for Dec. 17 at Cape Cod Community College's Tilden Arts Center.

Buckley said the film "follows the very sad trajectory of a number of young people on Cape Cod as they deal with addiction to heroin and pills." Baker hopes the screening will allow lawmakers and others to "witness the ill effects of the opioid epidemic," Buckley said.

"Heroin: Cape Cod, USA" focuses on the stories of eight Cape Cod residents aged 21 to 28 who are struggling with addiction to heroin.

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Baker filed legislation in October seeking curb addiction to powerful painkillers that can become a gateway to illegal drugs like heroin by limiting physicians from prescribing more than a 72-hour supply of prescription opioids. The governor's bill would also allow doctors to hold patients against their will for up to 72 hours for substance abuse treatment without seeking a court order if the patient presents a risk to themselves or others.

Those two signature provisions of the bill encountered criticism from doctors and civil rights advocates, and both House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Stanley Rosenberg expressed hesitation over the involuntary commitment proposal.

Baker has acknowledged that some of his proposals would be controversial. "Simply put, the status quo is unacceptable and it needs to be disrupted," he said recently.

Before Baker filed his bill, the Senate on Oct. 1 approved an opioid abuse prevention and education bill that, like Baker's proposal, is currently being reviewed by the House.

In 2014, doctors in Massachusetts, which has a population of just over 6.7 million people, wrote 4.6 million prescriptions for opioids totaling more than 255 million pills, according to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

The Department of Public Health estimated 1,256 people died of unintentional opioid overdoses in 2014, a rate of nearly four people a day and up from 939 in 2013.

The drug epidemic has been particularly potent in southeastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod, according to health professionals.

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